Adobe, the company behind Photoshop and Illustrator, is now under legal scrutiny after the US accused the software giant of “tricking” users into subscribing to content they didn’t want to keep, following a referral from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
According to the complaint, the United States claims that Adobe failed to properly disclose to consumers that its Annual Payment Plan (APM) plans were subject to expensive early termination fees (ETFs). This subscription type is available for Photoshop, Premiere Pro, Acrobat Pro, InDesign, Lightroom, and more.
The U.S. said in its complaint, “During the registration process, Adobe hid important terms of its APM program behind fancy text boxes and optional text boxes and hyperlinks, providing information designed to go unnoticed and that most consumers never See the information revealed,” adding that AdAdobe violated multiple consumer protection laws.
Adobe in legal trouble over alleged fraud
According to the United States, Adobe made the cancellation process “onerous” and used ETF “ambushes” to prevent users from terminating their subscriptions.
To put your complaint into perspective, please allow us to guide you through the purchasing process. If you click “View plan and pricing details” for any service (let’s use Photoshop as an example), you’ll see multiple plans available, including “Pay annually, pay monthly.”
Mix and match speed of light
However, the problem, the complaint states, is that users must hover over the “i” icon to get any information about the ETF.
The US claims Adobe is “hiding” the terms of its plans.
Image Credit: Kimberly Gedeon/Mashable/Adobe
The United States claims that Adobe “hides” the terms of its APM program in “fine print” behind hyperlinks and optional text boxes that are designed to be ignored.
Although the information provided in the gray box states, “If you cancel after 14 days, your service will continue until the end of that month’s billing cycle and you will be charged an early termination fee,” the complaint said there was not enough information about the ETF.
“Nowhere on the program selection page does it indicate that the APM program requires a one-year commitment,” the U.S. said.
The United States is seeking monetary compensation for the injured. Additionally, it wants Adobe to stop these alleged deceptive practices.
Mashable contacted Adobe for comment. We will update this article when we hear back.
